Monday, May 24, 2010

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Human Disorder & Summon

As promised, it is now time for our newest monthly profiles of two out of town hard rock/metal bands that feature at least one Saultite in their lineup! This month, we take a look at two bands that feature local guys we've already talked about here, but are by no means not worth profiling! One's broken up, the other is very much alive, and both are very talented! So, here we go, and of course, if there's something incorrect, missing, or lacking info/details, please tell me!(UPDATED: November 24, 2014)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Human Disorder (Port Colborne, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their final lineup in italics)

Local Info: As mentioned in our Phatstick profile, Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne were born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, where they played in various local bands in the 1980s and early 1990s! You may recognize Jason from his work in Alyster and Scrooge, for example. Both moved to the Niagara Falls area in the early 1990s to further their musical career, where they eventually both found their way into Human Disorder in 1994. In 1999, the pair formed Phatstick, and have since relocated to St. Catharines. Though neither Jason or Joe live in Sault Ste. Marie anymore, they were known to come back home for the occasional Phatstick concert, so take note of that in case the band reunites!

Band Bio: Human Disorder was formed in 1994 by guitarist Tim "TbOnZ" Letkemann and Joe LaVergne, eventually acquiring the services of Jason Taillefer on vocals and guitar and Keith Gillam (Jason and Joe's future Phatstick bandmate) on bass. The quartet played numerous gigs in the Niagara Falls area in the mid-1990s, recording their debut album "Twisted Sane" in 1995, before independently releasing it in October 1996. After it's release, St. Catharines' based Blue Summit Records (now Stumble Records) signed Human Disorder under the Ruptured Discs imprint. In the late 1990s, the band was joined by vocalist Scott Bowen, and recorded their second and final CD, "Ugly Modern Aggression", which was released in 1999. The band toured all over Canada and The United States in support of the album, and the success of "U.M.A." helped get Human Disorder into the top 50 on FMQB's "Top 100 Metal Bands" list in 1999! The band broke up the next year, playing their final show on April 30th, 2000. Jason, Joe, and Keith went on to form Phatstick, while Tim and Keith launched the industrial metal band InterVenom. In their heyday, Human Disorder did play in Sault Ontario, which I bet would have been awesome!

Human Disorder are the perfect example of why I often curse my age, cause I missed a band this cool! They had a definite Pantera influence that comes through on their songs, though it had a bit of a "nu" flair that made it a bit more accessible, but not enough to sell out with! This is especially evident on "Ugly Modern Aggression", thanks to Scott Bowen's aggressive vocal style! Jason Taillefer, whether as lead or co-lead singer, also shown off some impressive singing, which fans surely saw with Phatstick too. Some of their stuff with Jason singing lead definitely reminds me more of "nu metal", but I like a lot of nu metal, so it works for me, though if you're not big on that style, you my not be as appreciative. The instrumentation is great, though the guitar solos that I've heard aren't the best. To be fair though, I haven't heard any of their full albums, but from what I have heard, I'm very impressed! Very heavy with some good melodies, great singing, and lots of energy! Pantera and nu-metal fans will have a field day with Human Disorder, and if you're craving something a touch heavier than Phatstick, look no further!

Three songs (two from "U.M.A.", one from "Twisted Sane") are on their MySpace page, along with a remix from their last album! Also, you can still buy unopened copies of "U.M.A." on Amazon for as cheap as one cent, click here to check it out for yourself! As for a video, I have found just one video online of Human Disorder, a 1999 music video for their song "Puzzled"! This was originally uploaded on Google Video 3 years ago and was filmed by Black Walk Productions. The original link is at this location, and I've uploaded this video to YouTube to spread it to the masses like it deserves! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! So with that in mind, take a trip back a decade and check out "Puzzled"!

Local Info:The only local member of Summon wais drummer Mikey Bishop, who is sure to be familiar to local metalheads, especially ones from Sault Michigan! A veteran of numerous metal bands stretching from Ontario to Nashville, Mikey's probably best known nowadays as drummer for Brimley hard rockers Half A Man, along with former bands like the Grand Rapids death metal band Sadomasochism, playing with them in some high profile tours in the mid-2000s. Mikey's body of work includes stops in bands like Bludgeoned, Cement Pond, Dry Rot, 13 Mile Style, and most prominent of his former local bands, mid-90s groove metal rockers Lower S.E.S.! Look out for more exciting news and updates from Mikey's current projects in the near future!

Band Bio: Mikey joined Summon in 2009 upon the return of the band after a 4 year hiatus. I think Mikey replaced Joshua "Dominus" Moore as the band's drummer. The current lineup also includes founding member Chas "Necromodeus" Schoals on lead vocals and bass, Ed Ryan (who, like Mikey, is also formerly from Sadomasochism) on lead guitar, and Mike Jasso on rhythm guitar. Summon were initially formed in 1991 by Necromodeus and Xaphan, recording one demo before breaking up to focus on their work in another Michigan black metal band, Masochist. In 1995, the duo reformed Summon, releasing a demo that year and their first full length album, "Dark Descent of Fallen Souls", in 1997. Amidst numerous lineup changes, Summon released four more studio albums up to their most recent release, "Fallen", in 2005. The band went on hiatus after the departure of Xaphan in 2006, but returned in the late 2000s. Though beginning a new CD "A New Beginning" and playing a number of concerts in Michigan in the late 2000s, Summon fell inactive after 2010, though you can now see frontman Chas Schoals with the Lansing death metal band Inebriated.

I have to be honest, black metal isn't a genre I listen to a lot. That being said, Summon are pretty good! From the songs I've heard, I've detected some very skilled black metal vocals from Necromodeus and Xaphan alike, and though I'm sure many fans will miss Xaphan in the current lineup, Necromodeus is more than capable of carrying the total vocal burden! At least with their black metal singing, it's not toneless shrieking like some other bands, so that's great! Excellent drum work too, they made sure they got top of the line guys behind the kit, especially Dominus, and I know Mikey's going to do just fine in Summon! The various lead guitarists from their early albums were good too, though when listening, I just enjoyed the assaulting heaviness of Summon, they have tons of face-melting qualities, and hopefully they return to activity and come up to the Sault area sooner or later! Here's their music video for their song "Sacred Nothing"!

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That's all for today, unless there's some major, must-be-posted-today story that comes out later on. So, are you wondering what bands I'll profile next month? Well, after some thinking and searching, here's who I plan to profile: The Disciples of Rock, the inactive Blind River hard rock band featuring Saultites Aaron LeBlanc & James White, and Violet Fuse, the London Ontario hard rock band featuring the Sault Ontario-born Thom Edwards on drums! Expect that around the last week of June!

Over the next couple of days, expect brand new posts with updates on Bret Michaels, Tesla's show here next month, Stillbroke, Nixxon Dixxon, Energy Rock Radio, and more! Stay tuned for more!